Obesity could be 'inherited' from same-sex parent

Scientists have suggested that children may be more likely to develop obesity if their parent of the same sex is obese.

Researchers on the EarlyBird study at the Peninsula Medical School found that girls were more likely to be overweight if their mothers were obese, while boys with obese fathers were also more likely to carry excess weight.

Over a third of eight-year-old girls with obese mothers were obese, compared with just five per cent of girls whose mothers were a normal weight.

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Similarly, boys with an obese father were six times more likely to be obese than boys with a normal-weight father.

However, the researchers, who are following 300 children to shed light on the rising incidence of diabetes in young people, found no such link between mothers and sons, or between fathers and their daughters.

Recent figures revealed that one in six children in some parts of the country are already obese by the time they start primary school.

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